Dewatering press

ABSTRACT

A dewatering press for a mat of solid material, particularly for dewatering of fiber panels, includes upstream and downstream spaced apart stationary uprights, a press having a lower part and an upper part pressing against the mat of solid material in a pressing position of the press and a plurality of rollers mounted on the stationary uprights and guiding respectively a grate belt and lower and upper sealing belts between the uprights.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national phase of PCT/DE 90/00724 filed Sep. 25,1990 and based, in turn, upon German National Application P 3932098.1filed Sep. 26, 1989.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a press for dewatering of a mat of solid matterconsisting of goods to be pressed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Dewatering presses disclosed in the German Patent (DE 31 35 651) andincluding the return means for the lath grate band as well as the returnmeans for the sealing band are mounted on or within a press frame.Furthermore, a means is provided for cleaning of the lath grate band. Asa result, the lath grate band and the sealing band can be detached fromone another outside press platens. In such the structure the cleaningmeans operates in the clear space and is usually designed as spraynozzles or the like. The sealing band can also be cleaned in thismanner.

For the mesh band, separate cleaning means are provided along the band'srecirculating path. The structure has been proven to be successful.However, the apparatus also requires an additional means for cleaningthe lath grate band or the sealing band which are part of the dewateringplaten press. The use of such additional means for cleaning is noteconomical.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore, the object of the invention to provide the dewateringpress improving a cleaning in a simple and economical manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The press according to the invention includes an upper press section anda lower press section, a powered mesh band or sieve band guided throughthe dewatering press via stationary arrayed drums and receiving the matof solid matter, an endless lath grate band running on a return means,and an endless sealing band circulating via return means and guidedaround the lower press section. The interstice between the laths in thelath grate band represents a drain slot through which the water,extruded during the pressing, runs off. The sealing band prevents thewater to run off out of control. In order to avoid resting of the solidmatter the lath grate band according to the invention is guided througha cleaning basin, which is placed below the dewatering press. The twomachine frames can be made as a unitary frame. According to theinvention, the cleaning means are not components of the dewatering pressbut a separate part of the assembly characterized by a simple structure.As a result of the basin, a very effective cleaning can be carried outin a simple manner. For this purpose, the cleaning basin can be filledwith a cleaning water. One of the advantages of the present invention isthe use of cleaning nozzles and/or cleaning brushes. It is also withinthe framework of the invention to likewise carry the sealing bandthrough the cleaning basin providing effective cleaning of the former.Further, the mesh band can also be cleaned in the cleaning basin.

Still another advantage of the press according to the invention is thecyclical work of the dewatering press which is a dewatering platenpress. It is understood that in this case the lath grate band and thesealing band, during the return motion of the opened dewatering platenpress, do not experience disturbing wear effects due to the absence ofcontact with other machine parts. For this purpose the band may besuitably displaced within the stationary machine frame. In addition, thebands can be aligned exactly at the level of the lower platen press bymeans of an adjustment mechanism.

Another embodiment according to the invention shows the dewatering pressrealized as a continuous press operating in a sustained manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above and other objects, features and advantages of my inventionwill become more readily apparent from the following description,reference being made to the accompanying highly diagrammatic drawing inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the press according to theinvention;

FIG. 1a is an enlarged cross sectional view of the detail B according toFIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the press illustrated in FIG. 1 alonglines A--A;

FIG. 3 is a side view partly in vertical section of another embodimentof the press according to the invention; and

FIG. 3a is an enlarged cross sectional view of the detail C according toFIG. 3.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3 serve for the dewatering of a mat ofsolid matter M wetted with a water during manufacturing of panels ofsolid matter, particularly fiber panels, by pressing the mat betweenupper and lower press sections.

With respect to the pressing process, the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1and 2 operates cyclically. A dewatering platen press 2 moves back andforth along a process section upon rails 1 and has an upper presssection 3 and a lower press section 4 as well as upper and lower pressplatens 5. A powered perforated mesh band 7 accepting the solid mattermat M is guided through the dewatering platen press 2 and overstationary return drums 6. This perforated band 7 may be strewn with thepress material to the left beyond the FIG. and passes a watering stationfor the press material, which was not drawn. An endless lath grate band9 runs around the lower press section 4 via guiding means 8 andcirculates between mesh band 7 and lower press platen 5. Thereto, areference is made to the enlarged detail B in FIG. 1. An endless sealingband 11 runs between lath grate band 9 and lower press platen 5. Thearrangement operates in such a manner that the scattering means whichcovers the mesh band 7 with the fiber mass works continuously.Consequently, the arrangement is furthermore so constituted that, duringthe pressing process, the dewatering platen press is movable dependingon the transportation speed of the mesh band 7, and subsequently iscapable of being moved in the open condition for pressing of thesubsequent portion. This is illustrated by a double arrow in the upperpress section of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows the return means 8 for the lath grid band 9 as well as thereturn means 10 for the sealing band 11 which are journaled in thestationary machine frames 12, 13 and which are arranged ahead of andbehind the oscillatory section of the dewatering platen press 2. Thelath grate band 9 is guided through a cleaning basin 15 which is mountedbelow the running rails 1 of the dewatering platen press 2. The cleaningbasin 15 is filled with a cleaning water and can have additionalcleaning means 16, for example, cleaning nozzles and/or cleaningbrushes, which are shown in FIG. 1. In the embodiment the sealing band11 is also guided through the cleaning basin 15. It is understood thatif required, the perforated band 7 can also be run through the cleaningbasin as shown in FIG. 1. The lath grate 9 is capable of being lifted upby a respective lifting means shown in FIG. 1, so that during the returnmotion of the dewatering platen press there is no deleterious wear dueto the absence of contact with other machine parts. The same applies tothe sealing band 11. With an appropriate means, the bands 9, 11 are alsoadjustable to the level of the lower press platen 5.

With respect to the pressing process, the arrangement according to FIG.3 operates continuously. The dewatering press 2 thereby is acontinuously operating press. In press upper section 3 as well as inlower press section 4 endless powered steel bands 18 are guided viareturn drums 17. The enlarged detail C in FIG. 2A demonstrates thesealing band 11, the lath grate band 9 and the mesh band 7 guidedtowards the solid material mat M on steel band 18. The steel bands 18are supported on the respective press platens 5 by means of rollers 19.

I claim:
 1. A dewatering press assembly for dewatering a mat of a solidmaterial, said press assembly comprising:means for guiding an endlessmesh belt receiving a mat of a solid material along a path; an upstreamstationary upright and a downstream stationary upright spaced from saidupstream upright along said path; a dewatering press along said pathbetween said uprights, said press including: a lower platen on one sideof said mesh belt, and an upper platen on an opposite side of said meshbelt, one of said platens being movable toward the other platen in apressing position corresponding to the dewatering of the mat and back toan open position of said press; means for displacing said press back andforth along said path between said uprights; transport means on saiduprights for moving an endless grate belt along said path between saiduprights, said grate belt being juxtaposed between said mesh belt andsaid lower platen; first conveying means on said uprights fortransporting an endless lower sealing belt sandwiched between said lowerplaten and said grate belt, said grate and sealing belts havingrespective lower stretches spaced downwardly from said lower platenbetween said uprights; second conveying means for guiding an upperendless sealing belt between said upper platen and said mat; andcleaning means for cleaning said lower stretch of said grate belt, saidcleaning means including a cleaning basin formed between said uprightsand spaced downwardly from said lower platen.
 2. The dewatering pressdefined in claim 1 wherein said mesh belt has a lower stretch, saidlower stretches of said mesh and sealing belts being guided through saidcleaning basin.
 3. The dewatering press defined in claim 1, furthercomprising:rails on said cleaning basin for guiding said pressreciprocatingly between said uprights; and elevating means for elevatingsaid grate and lower sealing belt from said lower platen in said openposition of the press upon guiding thereof upstream along said path. 4.The dewatering press defined in claim 1 wherein said cleaning meansfurther includes a plurality of cleaning nozzles and cleaning brushesmounted in said basin.
 5. The dewatering press defined in claim 1wherein said basin is filled with cleaning water.